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A Boeing Delta IV Heavy Launch Vehicle blasts off from Space Launch Complex 6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The 235-foot-tall unmanned rocket produced 2 million pounds of thrust as it lifted off at 1:10 p.m. It's the largest rocket ever launched from the U.S. West Coast and carries a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.

A woman is reflected in a mirror at the Corona Save the Beach Hotel, a structure in central Madrid built with more than 13 tons of garbage collected from the beaches of Spain, Italy, France and Belgium. The hotel, designed by German eco-artist H.A. Schult, is intended to raise awareness of the damaging effect consumerism has on world beaches.

A memorial dedicated to Paul, an octopus celebrated for having correctly "predicted" the result of each of Germany's 2010 World Cup matches, is unveiled at the Sea Life Center in western Germany. The creature died in October at the age of 2.

Flowers adorn the barrel of a soldier's gun during a demonstration Jan. 20, 2011, in front of the headquarters of the party of ousted President Zine el Abidine ben Ali. Tunisian police fired shots into the air to try to disperse the hundreds of protesters who were demanding that ministers associated with the rule of the toppled president leave the government.

Police officers scuffle with ethnic Georgians, refugees from the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, are evicted from a temporary shelter in Bagebi on the outskirts of Tbilisi. The authorities resumed eviction of refugees from temporary shelters in Tbilisi, which officials said were occupied without permission, Georgian media reported.

Pictures in the News | Jan. 20, 2011

At Vandenberg Air Force Base, northwest of Santa Barbara, Calif., an unmanned 325-foot-tall Delta IV Heavy Launch Vehicle blasts off with a deafening roar from Space Launch Complex 6. The largest rocket to be launched from the U.S. West Coast, it was reportedly carrying a spy satellite into earth orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Central Madrid sees the opening of a hotel built entirely from garbage collected on the beaches of Spain, Italy, France and Belgium. Designed by German eco-artist H.A. Schult, the structure is intended to raise awareness of the damage consumerism has on world beaches, and quite possibly the entire hospitality industry of Western Europe.

We have four very different giant animals to report on in today’s Picture in the News: The giant pandas in Washington, on loan from the China, have their visas renewed for several more years; a new species of giant crayfish is discovered in Tennessee; a deceased German octopus, made famous for correctly predicting each of that country’s 2010 World Cup matches, is memorialized at an aquarium in Oberhausen; while in the northern French city of Roubaix, a sculpture of a rather big bunny is embraced by a visitor to an exhibition at the Zoonamia de la Nature Humaine. Best not to ask.

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3 Comments

Ah, Huskies doing what comes natural! No matter what country, you find people in love with these amazingly beautiful and athletic creatures. My Hollywood Siberian Husky expects to be adored and stops so people can pet him, did I mention I'm a proud Mom?!

For the record, the Delta IV rocket was 235 feet tall, not 325. Still gigantic, but not ridiculously gigantic. See LA Times article about the launch, and information on the United Launch Alliance web site.

By: Eric

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